Note pad and note sheet holder



April 1, 1952 c. B. GRAY NOTE PAD AND NOTE SHEET HOLDER Filed May 18, 1949 CALVIN B. GRAY,

L HIIL fllllil N6 A or rf f' Patented Apr. 1, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE NOTE PAD AND NOTE SHEET HOLDER Calvin B. Gray, Wilmington, Del. Application May 18, 1949, Serial No. 93,869 3 Claims. (01. 281-15) Thisinvention relates to notepad holders and particularly to such holders having means whereby a note sheet may be stored with a portion thereof held in display position with its written surface directed toward the user of the device.

Though devices for this general purpose have been proposed in the past, they have been relatively expensive and of complex construction. The present invention provides a holder for notepads and note sheets which is of extremely simple construction particularly adapted to low cost manufacture The invention further providessuch a device capable of being fabricated from a single sheet of resilient material by common manufacturing operations.

The invention is characterized by means whereby a plurality of individual note sheets may be stored, with a portion of one or more of said sheets held in display position, the note sheets placement.

The invention may readily be understood in detail by reference to the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification and wherein:

Fig. 1. is a view in perspective of a preferred embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 2 is a detail vertical section taken through a preferred notepad clamp employed in the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3. is a vertical section taken on the line 3-3, Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, and first to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated comprises a single piece of sheet material I bent sharply upon itself at 2 to provide divergent upper and lower planar members 3 and 4, resspectively. The upper planar member 3 constitutes a supporting surface for a notepad 5, and is provided with an upstanding portion or flange 9 parallel to the line of the bend at 2. The upstanding flange 6 is preferably provided by bending the upper planar member 3 at I. A second bend 8, at right angles to flange 6, provides a forwardly extending portion 9. Thus, a generally U-shaped notepad clamp is provided, comprising portion 9, flange 6 and member 3. The material of sheet I is chosen to provide suificient rigidity to maintain bends 2, 1 and 8 permanently, but also to provide a measure of resilience in the completed article. Sheet I may, for example, be

of thin, resilient sheet metal. Therefore, it will be seen that the bound end of the notepad can be clamped firmly but releasably between the forwardly extending portion 9 and the main body of upper planar member 3.

The lower planar member 4 constitutes a base for the device and is provided with an upwardly directed extension Iii, which is preferably, but not necessarily, curved forwardly as illustrated. The extension IE] and the member 4 subtend an angle which partially encompasses the notepad clamp. Thus, the extension In, the base member 4, the notepad supporting member 3 and the flange 6 define a continuous open-top channel of angular cross-section.

When the device is in use, the lower planar member 4 rests upon a desk top or the like, and it will be seen from Figs. 1 and 2 that the notepad 5 is then supported at a slight inclination for convenience in writing upon the pad, by reason of the angle between the planar members 3 and 4. Note sheets to be stored are inserted between the planar members 3 and 4, as shown by dotted lines at l I, Fig. 1, and when so inserted are bent upwardly by the extension ll] of member 4. It will be noted from Figs. 1 and 2 that the planar members 3 and 4 extend under only a portion of the notepad 5. The effective depth of the notepad receiving channel defined by the combination of the extension Hi, the flange 6 and the planar members 3 and 4 is materially less than the length of a sheet from the notepad 5. Thus, notes torn from the pad, when inserted between the two planar members, extend by reason of their length and the support ofextension I0 considerably above the forwardly extending upper portion 9 of the notepad clamp, and a portion of the forward surface of a note so held is therefore forwardly displayed. It is obvious that the displayed portion may be the portion of the note bearing a heading, title, date, etc., which will serve as a reminder to the user of the device.

Sheet I is of resilient material, as previously stated, and the bend at 2 is preferably sufficiently sharp so that the angle between planar members 3 and 4 is acute. Depending upon the use to which the device is to be put, the angle between members 3 and 4 can be chosen such as to make these members capable of clamping between them a sheaf of inserted notes.

The device is preferably designed for use with a notepad of definite length, and the angle between planar members 3 and 4, and the radius of the bend at 2, are so chosen that, when the device is in use, the lower edge l2 of the end as best seen in Fig. 2, positions the notepad 5- relative to the flange 6 of the notepad clamp by engaging a'transverse slot [4 in the backing 15 of the notepad. Thus, the notepad 5 canbe 2 inserted in and removed from the notepad clamp easily by movement transversely of the device. According to the construction shown in-Fig. 2, the rib I3 is not struck up as in Fig. 2 but is simply an extra thickness of the planar memher 3.

The device is preferably adapted for use with notepads bound at their top edge, as illustrated, and such notepads can be provided with a forwardly slanting bore 13, Figs. 2 and 3. The forwardly extending member 9 of the notepad clamp is provided with an opening ll. When a notepad is positioned in the holder, it may be adjusted transversely until bore IS in the notepad is aligned with the opening 11 in the member 9. The bore H5 and opening I! then cooperate to form a holder for a pencil 18, as shown in Fig. 1. V

The forwardly extending member 9 of the notepad clamp is also preferably provided with a clip l9 secured to the upper surface of the member 9, as by spot welding at 20. The clip l9 includes a short vertical portion 2| and a portion 22 extending substantially parallel to the upper surface of the member 9, so that the conventional pocket clip 23 of a fountain pen or the like 24 may be engaged with clip 19, as illustrated in Fig. 1.

I claim:

1. In a holder for a notepad and note sheets, a single piece of resilient sheet material bent upon itself to provide upper and lower divergent planar members, said upper planar member constituting a notepad supporting surface and being provided at its extremity with an upright flange parallel to the bend between said planar members, means cooperating with said flange and said upper planarmember for clamping a notepad to said upper planar member, and an upwardly directed extension carried by said lower planar 'member and positioned parallel to but spaced sheet receiving channel of angular cross-section. and the angle between said divergent planar members being sufficiently small that a sheaf of note sheets insert-ed into said pocket and extending to a point adjacent the bend between said planar members will be resiliently clamped between said planar members.

2. A device of the class described comprising a single piece of resilient sheet material sharply bent upon itself to provide upper and lower planar members divergent to each other at an acute angle, said upper planar member constituting a notepad supporting element and being bent upon itself in two spaced parallel right angle bends to form a resilient notepad clamp of U-shaped cross-section opening towardand parallel to the bend between said upper and lower planar memher. said lower planar member terminating in an upwardly curving extension positioned adjacent to and partially encompassing said clamp, said extension, said upper and lower planar members and the base of the U of said clamp defining a continuous open-top channel of angular crosssection.

3. In combination in a device of the class described, a notepad including a backing sheet,

and along the under surface of said backing sheet for a portion only of the length of said notepad. a planar base member joined to the end of said one side and extending back along and below said one side and diverging therefrom at an acute angle, said acute angle being such that said base member and the bottom edge of said backing sheet lie in the same plane, said base member terminating in. an upwardly curving extension spaced from but generally parallel to the base of the U of said clamp, said extension, said base member, said one side of the clamp, and the base of the clamp defining a continuous open-top channel of angular cross-section.

CALVIN GRAY.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,049,428 Weeks Jan."7, 1913 1,439,138 White Dec. 19, .1922

' 1,841,903 McGonigle Jan. 19, 1932 2,237,532 Posnack Apr. 8, 1941 2,471,504 Wayne May 31, 1949 

